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Jeremiah 50:1-46. By God’s Power And Forgiveness His People Are Freed.

By God’s Power And Forgiveness His People Are Freed

Jeremiah 50:1-46                            Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 50:34                             6-18-18

“Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.”

Dear Lord Jesus, help me to understand this passage. Help me to see you in this passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: God Is Faithful To Bring His People Near (1-17)

Verses 1-17, “This is the word the Lord spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians: 2 “Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say,‘Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’3 A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away.4 “In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten. 6 “My people have been lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray and caused them to roam on the mountains. They wandered over mountain and hill and forgot their own resting place.7 Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they sinned against the Lord, their verdant pasture, the Lord, the hope of their ancestors.’8 “Flee out of Babylon; leave the land of the Babylonians, and be like the goats that lead the flock.9 For I will stir up and bring against Babylon an alliance of great nations from the land of the north. They will take up their positions against her, and from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.10 So Babylonia will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the Lord. 11 “Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions, 12 your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who gave you birth will be disgraced. She will be the least of the nations— a wilderness, a dry land, a desert. 13 Because of the Lord’s anger she will not be inhabited but will be completely desolate. All who pass Babylon will be appalled; they will scoff because of all her wounds. 14 “Take up your positions around Babylon, all you who draw the bow.  Shoot at her! Spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. 15 Shout against her on every side!  She surrenders, her towers fall, her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the Lord, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.16 Cut off from Babylon the sower, and the reaper with his sickle at harvest. Because of the sword of the oppressor let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land. 17 “Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”

Jeremiah had prophesied concerning the Babylonian conquest of all the nations around Israel, as well as the invasion of Judah and the fall of Jerusalem and the exile of the Jews. Babylon was God’s instrument of judgment. Through the armies of Babylon, the nations would receive judgement for their sins and the people of Israel would receive God’s divine discipline so that some of them could turn their hearts back to God. And so God’s working through Babylon had a redemptive purpose for his people, Israel.

Even though Babylon was being used by God, it didn’t mean that they were exempt from God’s judgement. Babylon was very evil. Her people worshiped Bel and Marduk. They treated the people they conquered very cruelly.  Look at verse 11, “Because you rejoice and are glad, you who pillage my inheritance, because you frolic like a heifer threshing grain and neigh like stallions,”. They rejoiced and were glad at the suffering of the God’s people. Though their judgement was due them, for the sins they had done, it was by no means license for the Babylonians to gloat over them in their suffering.

They also overly caused the people of the land to suffer. Look at verse 15b, “…Since this is the vengeance of the Lord, take vengeance on her; do to her as she has done to others.” They were given a job to do, that was to invade Judah and take some captives. But they over did it. Their hand was too heavy and cruel. Because of this also they would be judged.

Think about it this way…the police are called to make sure that justice prevails in the land. They have power to arrest people and apply force if needed. But they are not allowed to act unjustly. They must not use excessive force. They must not apply force without due cause. If they do, then they will be subject to the law and could be prosecuted. God wants his people to act justly and be compassionate and merciful reflecting his character.

God would punish them in his own time. A nation from the north, the Medo-Persian Empire, would conquer Babylon. At this time the Medo-Persian, led by Cyrus would be God’s instrument of judgement against Babylon. Once he conquered Babylon, Cyrus would issue a proclamation that the Israelites would be set free to return to their homeland and worship God as they wished. This is how verse 16b was accomplished, “…let everyone return to their own people, let everyone flee to their own land.”

The people of Judah living in Babylonian captivity would go home with tears of repentance. Let’s read verses 4-5 together, “In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “the people of Israel and the people of Judah together will go in tears to seek the Lord their God. 5 They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and bind themselves to the Lord in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.” (4,5) God worked in the hearts of his people through the exile. Their hardened hearts would melt. They would be so repentant that tears would flow. They would be inspired to seek after the Lord. They were ready to make a new beginning with the Lord. The people, who had long disobeyed God, would be asking the way to Zion…the way to meet God. They would willingly submit themselves to God. God would bring them into a covenant relationship with himself. It would be an everlasting covenant.

God is very wise. He knew exactly what it would take to for his people to turn their hearts and he fulfilled this plan. It took over 70 years, along with hundreds of years of patience and pleading with his people. But God did it. We can trust God that he will bring his people near to his heart. Praise the Lord.

God knows what it will take to get the hearts of the people of our nation to turn. He knows what it will take to get any one person’s heart to turn to him. It may require decades of “hard living” before a person turns their hearts to Jesus. God is patient and wise and he will work through any avenue that he can to get the hearts of his people to return back to him in repentance and faith. He is stronger than our own sin and unbelief.

Part 2. Our God Is A Strong Redeemer For His People (18-46)

Verses 18-46, “8 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria. 19 But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “ search will be made for Israel’s guilt,  but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.

21 “Attack the land of Merathaim and those who live in Pekod.  Pursue, kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord. “Do everything I have commanded you. 22 The noise of battle is in the land, the noise of great destruction! 23 How broken and shattered is the hammer of the whole earth! How desolate is Babylon among the nations! 24 I set a trap for you, Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it; you were found and captured because you opposed the Lord. 25 The Lord has opened his arsenal and brought out the weapons of his wrath, for the Sovereign Lord Almighty has work to do in the land of the Babylonians. 26 Come against her from afar. Break open her granaries; pile her up like heaps of grain. Completely destroy her and leave her no remnant. 27 Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter! Woe to them! For their day has come, the time for them to be punished.28 Listen to the fugitives and refugees from Babylon declaring in Zion how the Lord our God has taken vengeance, vengeance for his temple.

29 “Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 30 Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord. 31 “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.”

33 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 34 Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.

35 “A sword against the Babylonians!”  declares the Lord— “against those who live in Babylon and against her officials and wise men! 36 A sword against her false prophets!  They will become fools. A sword against her warriors! They will be filled with terror. 37 A sword against her horses and chariots and all the foreigners in her ranks! They will become weaklings. A sword against her treasures!  They will be plundered. 38 A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror. 39 “So desert creatures and hyenas will live there, and there the owl will dwell. It will never again be inhabited  or lived in from generation to generation. 40 As I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighboring towns,” declares the Lord, “so no one will live there; no people will dwell in it.

41 “Look! An army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are being stirred up from the ends of the earth. 42 They are armed with bows and spears; they are cruel and without mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses; they come like men in battle formation to attack you, Daughter Babylon. 43 The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor. 44 Like a lion coming up from Jordan’s thickets to a rich pastureland, I will chase Babylon from its land in an instant. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? Who is like me and who can challenge me? And what shepherd can stand against me?”45 Therefore, hear what the Lord has planned against Babylon, what he has purposed against the land of the Babylonians: The young of the flock will be dragged away; their pasture will be appalled at their fate .46 At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will tremble; its cry will resound among the nations.

God would redeem his people by his power and by his grace of forgiveness.

Our God is a Strong redeemer. There is no way that the Israelites could ever be set free from exile in Babylon. But God made it happen. He raised up the Persians and King Cyrus and set them free. Now that is strength. Our God is a strong redeemer.

     The Lord Almighty, the strong Redeemer of Israel, would forgive and restore the remnant of his people Look at verses 19-20. “But I will bring Israel back to their own pasture, and they will graze on Carmel and Bashan; their appetite will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead. 20 In those days, at that time,” declares the Lord, “search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for the sins of Judah, but none will be found, for I will forgive the remnant I spare.”

Their forgiveness was given to them by God himself. It was not because of anything they did. They were doing the wrong things, if you remember, in almost every previous chapter in Jeremiah. They were forgiven because God chose to forgive them. They endured their punishment and divine discipline because of their sin. The seventy years of captivity was over. It was time to accept God’s complete forgiveness and make plans to return to Judah and Jerusalem.

To experience true deliverance and transformation in Christ, we need to know the grace of his forgiveness. When we realize that we have been totally forgiven by God then something supernatural happens. We are changed. God’s power and love literally changes us from the inside out. We become children of God.

     The Lord Almighty would give them rest. Look at verses 33-34, “33 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, and the people of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to let them go. 34 Yet their Redeemer is strong; the Lord Almighty is his name. He will vigorously defend their cause so that he may bring rest to their land, but unrest to those who live in Babylon.” The Lord is strong. He defends their cause. God is the Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth. He is the sovereign Lord over all creation. If he chooses to defend the cause of his people then they are defended. He chooses to defend his people because he has forgiven his people. On the basis of his forgiveness and his sovereignty, they will find rest in their land. Only Christ can offer this rest to his people.

The rest for God’s people is also accomplished by God’s complete forgiveness. There would be no guilt to found. If there was no guilt then they would have entered into a right relationship with the holy God. If the Holy Almighty God completely forgives a person, who is to say anything to the contrary. It is done.

God spoke differently about the nations that were not his people. Some would be crushed, never to rise again. Some would be crushed but be allowed to rebuild themselves as a people.  The arrogant Babylonians would be crushed (31,32). But to his people, the Israelites, he spoke with words of love and hope. He would help them to be reestablished as a people of God.

The Gospel is written all over this chapter. Before meeting Jesus, people are enslaved by their sin. The power of sin and the devil keep them captive, in exile from God. But Jesus, through his death and resurrection set the captives free. He destroyed the power of death and the devil and set the captives free. His death brings complete forgiveness for any who believe. They become children of God. They enter into an eternal relationship with God through the Gospel. They have eternal life. They also have rest in their souls. They have hope and assurance because Jesus is their Redeemer and King. They are set apart from the people of this world because they are children of God. They are being led back to God and will spend eternity life in God’s kingdom. This is what that Gospel is all about. It is good news.

Prayer: Almighty Lord God, I can see how plan unfolded and how you brought your people back to you. You are wise, powerful and compassionate. You grace is poured out on your people. Thank you, Lord.

One Word: Our God Is a forgiving strong Redeemer.




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